Trussed structure.



A; J. BATES.

TRUSSED STRUCTURE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.18, 1910.

1 Patented Oct. 17, 1911.

3 SHEETSSHBET 1.

A. J. BATES.

TRUSSED STRUCTURE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.18, 1910.

Patented Oct. 17, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mawm.

A. J. BATES.

TRUSSED STRUCTURE.

APPLIGATION FILED Anus} 1910.

Patented 0013. 17, 1911.

a SHEETS-SHEET a.

M M g x.

- which the their length by truss other metal work,

citizen of the Unitedffltates,

' aura. mass. or einmooumuom. raussnn sa'n u'cruan name. I

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT J. Barns, a residing at Chicago, in thecounty of'Cook and State of Illinois, have inventednew and useful Imrovements i'n Trussed Structures, of

following-is a specification,

My invention relates to trussed structures and comprises essentiallytheformation of a 1 bar or strip at intervals,

a-l'le'l to the side members and in staggered rrelation to each otherand then sep get ployed as a substitute for tu-res heretofore referredto and for a V8.4

'stretcliin structure having longitudinally extending side members saced apart and integrally connected together at intervals throughoutmembers preferably angularly disposed to the side members.

0' far as I amaware, trussed structures heretofore employed in theconstruction of buildings, bridges, elevated railways, .and have beenbuilt up. of Ion ftudinal side members. connected tofi er bycross-pieces riveted or bolted thereto. v

The object ofmy' invention is to provide a strong and substantialintegral trussed structure of skeleton form which can be emthe built-upstrucriety of other urposes and which combines greater strength andrigidity than the builtup structures with economy of production. To thisend my invention embodies the conversion of a solid bar or strip ofmetal into skeleton form and 'stantially the same length as the originalbar or strip and providing a trussed structure essentially strongerformanypurposes than the original bar or strip and having a certaininherent elasticity. i g

The said structure consists essentiallyof longitudinal side members anddiagonal strut members disposed with relation to the side members so asto form a pluralityof adjacent triangular shaped openin v in thestructure. In the fcrmation'ot t e struc turethe side members remain-substantitllly unchanged in' length and cross-section but the trussmembers are stretched lengthwise and more or less reduced incross-section. Thisis accomplished, briefly, by slitting the the slitsbeing parrating the outer members of the bar or stfi p an lengthwise thesectignscomprising, vtheintermediate member until the ele- Specificationof Letters Patent. Application meaa rn 18, 1910. Serial m. 550,221;

of the same or sub- F Patented Oct. 17, 1911;

sired structure is obtained. By this method :I am enabledto produce ast-ructuremore rigid and much stronger than the built-up structuresheretofore employed and the integrated' structures produced by weldingandfree mm the weaknesses at the joints of theparts in the oldstructures, and-furthermore myintergral structure is more economical .toproduce than a built-up structure or an integrated structure and is moredurable.

Another object of my invention is the 65 production of a structure in.which the strains and stresses are distiibuted evenlythroughoutits'length, which desideratutn is practically impossible inbuilt-up structures ecau'se of the inevitable inaccuracies which creepinto an attempt to make a large num- Iber of pieces of exactly the samelength, and ;to dril or unch a large number of holes which shall espaced exactly the same disitanoe apart. p i My mvention also-iaims toproduce a structure which shall the lighter than the constructionsheretofore employed, and which can be manufactured at much less cost. 0Furthermore, my invention has for. its object the provision of astructure which is capable of a variety of uses to which a built-upstructure could not be successfully adapted. I p

Additional aims and objects of my inventionwill be apparent to'thoseskilled in the art as .it becomes better understood by reference to. thefollowin description when taken'in connection witfithe accompangytng 9odrawings illustrating a preferred em odi ment thereof. I a Referring tothe drawings Figure 1 is a plan of a bar or strip of metal from which myY iimproved structure is made. Fig. 2 is a plan .ofthis bar aftergrooving and slitting op ;erations. Fig. 3 is a plan showingthesidemembers of the barpartially separatedt Fig. 4 shows the sid'e'sectionsseparatcd to produce a trussed structure of maximum strength. Fig. is asection'on the line 5-5 of Fi 4. Figx ttisf asection' on the line 66 0Fig. 2. Fi 7t'o w are views :similar to Fig. 6 and s owin" other formsof bar. Fig. ll'is a view similar to-Fi'g. 2'

but having slits therci i' of graduated lengths to produce a taperingstructure. Fig. 12 shows the resultlhgstruoture after the side membersof Fig. 11 have been separated. Fig. 13 is a side view ofan'I-beam Islitted according to my invention. Fi 14 improved trussed Structure.

shows a methodof connecting two of my.

shown in Fig. 6 is provided with grooves or longitudinal de ressions 18near its edges which form grip surfaces so that the bar can'be firmlygrasped bya tool or machine for the purpose of separatin the sidemembers, as will be later descri ed. The grip surfaces may be otherwiseproduced, as by the 'flanges 19, (Fig. 7), the grooves 20,

(Fig. '8), the beads 21, (Fig. 9); theribs j 22, .(Fig. 10) or the sidemembers may be roughened. Instead of forming these grips ping surfaceson the bar the drawing or stretching means ma be provided with suitablegrippin 'sur acesto, make locking engagement .wit the bar. The bar, with-or without the gri ping surfaces, is provided witli a plurallty ofslits 23 extending longitudinally throughout its length .in

staggered relation to each other and in two ser1es. .These slits, asshown in Fig.2, are of substantially equal-length, the ends of the slitsbeing separated by.an'integral-tie portion 2 1 affording suflicientstrength to prevent fracture during the separating or drawing operation.The uncut tie portions 24 between theslits in each series are preferablydisposed substantially opposite the center of the slits in the otherseries, and each series of'slits is located substantially equidistantfrom the edges of the bar and from each other, thus dividing the barinto twolongitudinal side members 25, 26, and an intermediate member 27.The slits may be-produced by any suitable cuttin'g'implement with the,bar in either heated or cold condition, as may be found desirable.After the slitting operation, the side members of the bar are graspedthroughout their length or at such points as may be found suflicient,

by a suitable stretching tool or implement.

Any preferred type of stretching or drawing device may be employed, onetype being shown in Fig. 17 for the purposes ofvillustration merely. Thedevice shown comprises jaws 28a1dapted to engage the side members.Suitable means are employed for pulling the jaws to separate the sidemembers-and to stretch or elongate the sections 29 of the intermediatemember of the bar- The bar as into a sinuous form, as shown in Fig. 3

of the side members. The pulling or by heating the bar, and inheavy workthe heating of 'the bar is practically necessary.

The structure shown in Fig. 3 may be emplo ed for numerous purposes butthe formv whlch gives the maximum strength and efliciency 1s disclosedin Fig: 4, wherein'the side members 25 and 26 have been separated untilthe sections 30. of the intermediate member 27 connecting the tieportions 24, are straight and disposed at practically an angle of 60with the side members. In thus forming the structure the side membersare neither changed in length nor in thick-- ness, at least to anymaterial extent, and

.angularly disposed sections of the intermediate member. The members andsections form a structure having a lurality of adjacent triangularopenings, t e sides of these triangles'bemg formed b the sections andthe bases thereof by the, side members. The triangles are arranged withtheir bases alternating bet-ween the side members.

In the structure shown in Figs. 1 to 8, inc'lusive, the slits in the barhave been made ofuniform length and the sidemembers have been drawnapart and maintained insubstantial parallelism. If it is desired toproduce a tapering trussed structure, such as is (llSClOSGdlIl Fig.12,'theslits 31 are'graduated in length fromx one end of the bar 32 j tothe other (Fig. 11). When the stretching operation is'performed thelonger slits at one end of the bar will permit the side members 33 and34 to be separated farther than willthe shorter slits near the other endof is particularly adapted" for use inaerial graph, telephone or powerpoles.

In Figs. 13 and 16 I have shown" an I-beam 35 slitted for stretching toform. trussed structure adapted for use in building construction, asshown" in Fi s. 14 and 15. In the latter figures there is sIiown agirder 36'and'upright 37, the connection being made by means of suitableangle-bars 38 and rivets 39 such as are ordinarily employed inconstructions of this kind. It will be ob.- vious that a building frameconstructed as shown in Fig. 14 mayv be made much lighter and strongerthan a frame constructed of the same material in the form of ordinary;larly adapted for usein concrete construcitions; the'concrete unitingwith the open work of thestructure to form a firm me- 7 chanical bond.

fence post, as shown in Fig. 18, wherein the lower end of the post 40 isembedded'in without increasing or decreasing the length stretchingoperation is materially facilitated.

they are trussed and strengthened by the the bar. This structure, shownin Fig. 12, j

structures, such as towers, etc., and as tele-' gshapes. A frame of thiskind is also particu- My invention may also be employed as a j mostuseful and efficient type of post, since the strain upon the fence isusually exerted against the side thereof which will be resistcd by thepostset as shown in Fig. 18.

It will be obvious from the foregoing description that my invention iscapable of a variety ofuses both in structuralwork and in reinforcedconcrete work. Furthermore, it may be employed in lighter constructionssuch as telephone poles or fence posts, hitching posts, etc., and infact is a. very cheap and eflicient substitute for either the built-upor solid constructions heretofore employed.

While I have shown and'described several forms of structures embodyingmy invention, it will be apparent that these forms are selected for thepurposes of illustration merely and that itis capable of being embodiedin a variety of other forms wlthout departing from the spirit of theinvention or sacrificing any of the material advantages thereof.

I make no claim in this application for the method of making trussedstructures herein disclosed for the same forms the subject-matter of mydivisional application Serial No. 583,394, filed September 23, 1910.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A trussed structure of skeleton form made from a single piece ofductile metal and having side members and a zig-zag intermediate member,together constltuting a 2. A trussed structure of skeleton form madefrom one piece of ductile metal and having side members and anintermediate member, the latter comprising a plurality of oppositelydisposed sections integral at their ends'with the side members andforming therewith a series-of truss elements of triangular form. I

3. A one piece trussedv structure of duetile metal and of skeleton formhaving side members and an intermediate member, the latter comprisinga'plurality of oppositely disposed struts integral at their ends withthe side members and with each other and forming with the side members aseries of integral truss elements of triangular form. 4. A trussedstructure made of one piece of ductile metal and consisting of two sidemembers and a zi -za intermediate member forming with t e side members aseries of integral truss elements of triangular form, the center line ofall of said members lying in' the same plane.

5. A one piece trian lated article composed of ductile material havintially parallel outer longitudina members integral with oppositelydisposed diagonal members and creating a series of triangles inalinement.

6. A one piece girder of ductile metal having a series of integral trusselements arranged in triangular form, the outer members being flangedand the center line of all the members being in the same plane.

ALBERT J. BATES. Witnesses I. J. WILsoN, E. HOLMES.

substani

